


Bunraku

by mageofthepeople



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, Reconciliation, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-11-30 07:45:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11459145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mageofthepeople/pseuds/mageofthepeople
Summary: Sara Ryder made the wrong choice when she saved Sloane Kelly from Reyes Vidal's assassination attempt.  Correcting that mistake leads Sara to examine some other choices she made in the early days of her tenure as the human Pathfinder.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Well, this is the first story I've written in an extremely long time that I am putting out there for public consumption. I tried to get a few chapters written before I started posting anything simply because I didn't know what my schedule would look like. I have no idea how long this will be. Hopefully not too long.

   It had been over a year since he had to leave Kadara for less hostile territory.  The overly complicated matter of the Pathfinder holding up the Outcasts and their leader, Sloane Kelly, as ruler of Kadara Port after he foolishly exposed the identity of the leader of the Collective to them made it difficult to stay.  Luckily for him, he had a few identities tucked away, he hadn’t left the Nexus without a little insurance.  He’d only recently returned to smuggling again, running supplies for the angaran resistance between Voeld, Elaaden, and Havarl.  He kept clear of Kadara, the Nexus, and Meridian.  There were people there he didn’t want to run into without a fully realized plan in place.  Reyes Vidal hadn’t been lying to the Pathfinder when he told her he had wanted to be someone.  A little betrayal and a gunshot wound to the shoulder wasn’t going to hold him back.

   Except, as it turns out, it ultimately had.  He found himself obsessed with stories of the Pathfinder’s exploits.  He followed closely when she had founded her fourth settlement, New Tuchanka, on Elaadan.  He listened to stories of the massive battle for Meridian.  That one hurt a bit.  He would have loved to have participated in that.  Instead he was in some dive bar on Elaadan, silently roasting away in the flophouse.  He didn’t know why the gangs kept moving into this place, they were regularly cleared out by Initiative and Krogan patrols.  Still, that wasn’t set to happen for another day or two.  Now the Initiative, angarans, and the kett were even more open conflict that they had been before.  The kett had never really left and now under Primus’ control they were much more focused on their original plan: exalting the cluster.

   Reyes had a few run-ins with them himself.  He wasn’t much of a fighter.  He could fight, he knew how to shoot remarkably well, and he had a mean left hook but he didn’t like to fight.  It was too messy and he wasn’t terribly fond of risking himself unnecessarily.  There had been a reason he ruled the Collective from the shadows.  Where he should have stayed.  He took a long drink of whatever it was that the bartender had given him and cringed at the taste.  His three drink maximum still applied, but he wasn’t working right now.  

   Reyes Vidal, these days existing as one Declan Duffy.  He really wished he had done more than the equivalent of a smash and grab when it came to these identities.  Declan had been Alliance and was due to make waves in Andromeda, except that he didn’t make it off of the Nexus.  Not Reyes’ doing, but he took advantage of the chaos.  He’d been on Voeld for a few hours, he dropped supplies off to the local leaders of the resistance and decided he’d enjoy the locals once.  He’d been to Voeld before dear Sara had worked her magic on the place.  There was a noted change in the temperature but it was still colder than Reyes had ever been.  Some of the top layers of snow were slushier than he remembered.  He often found himself wondering where all the water would go.  Would there be any land to be had once everything melted?  He took another gulp and shrugged at his own question.  What did he care?  He’d be dead by then.  

   There was a shuffling and the sound of wind and a cold blast when the door opened.  A rise in voices, greeting whoever had walked through the door.  He had a bad feeling about this.  He had known Sara was on Voeld.  It was part of the reason he had been.  His obsession with her had him knowing where she was almost constantly.  He couldn’t figure out if he was angry at her, hurt, or his unresolved feelings for her had made him this way.  He wanted to explain himself.  Those 5 minutes in a cave with Sloane standing right there didn’t give him the opportunity he needed.  He’d under-estimated how hurt she was and had ignored all advice to tell her beforehand.  He admitted it to himself on a nearly daily basis.  He was where he was because of his decisions.  But also because of her.  She had _shot_ him.  

   After the dozen or so angaran voices had their chance to greet The Pathfinder - there were other Pathfinders, but Sara was The Pathfinder - Reyes shifted away from the bar to a table with a better view and a wall to his back.  There she was, in the flesh.  The first time in over a year he was sharing the same room with her.  She didn’t look much different.  Still younger than him, still with the same perfectly disheveled ponytail he loved so much.  She was with the angaran and a man, taller than her - though most were.  There was a trust between them that was obvious and Reyes was a little jealous.  At least until he realized that it was Sara’s brother.  She’d brought her brother with her.  They had the same eyes, the same flawlessly beautiful copper color to their skin, the same dark hair.  Everything else was different.  

   He felt like an idiot sitting here, watching her across the room.  He’d known the girl a few months whenever her trips across the cluster brought her to Kadara.  She’d needed an ally, he needed assistance, and after awhile it was just an excuse to see one another.  She didn’t seem to care that he was twelve years her senior, that he was a smuggler, or that he held open hostility toward Sloane’s rule of Kadara.  She looked at him intensely, whenever they spoke.  Her honey-colored eyes tore into him so deeply, he had hoped she would have figured the whole Charlatan mess out before he even had to say anything.  She had been quick but, unfortunately for him, not quick enough.

   “What the hell are you doing here?”  A quiet voice cut into his thoughts.  Fuck.  He was pretty sure he was drunk.  His eyes focused on the person sitting next to him.  Not across the table, but right next to him.  Yeah, definitely drunk.  “Reyes?”  

   Fuck.  It was her.  How did she figure it out so qui-- Fuck.  How did he forget about that AI?  

   “Working.”  He said to her flatly, glancing over at her comrades.  Her _family_.  No, too bitter.  “I have to do that now.  All the bars in the cluster and we just happen to be in the same one.”  

   “You still have a bounty on your head, did you know that?”  She asked, signaling to her brother and the angaran to stay where they were.   The brother frowned.  Definitely related.

   “Are you going to turn me in, Sara?”  He asked, leaning in closer to her.  He was annoying even himself.  What had he been drinking?  Reyes took a moment.  “I’m well aware.  I’m not about to turn myself over the Initiative so they can jail me for the rest of my life and I’m sure as hell not resigning myself to decorating a pike outside Sloane Kelly’s bunker at Kadara Port.”

   “I shouldn’t have shot you.”  Sara said, ignoring his reply, tucking some stray hair behind her ear.  “I never liked how things ended but I didn’t have time or energy to spare to scour the cluster for you, Reyes.  And I wasn’t about to respond to that hostile email either.”  

   Reyes snorted into his drink.  He had almost forgotten about that email.  “There wasn’t even much of a scar.”  

   “I don’t think you can be that uppity about it all, Reyes.  Can we go somewhere to talk?”

   “If you continue to say my name out loud you won’t really have to worry about talk, one of these people will hear you, club us both over the head, and turn us both over to whoever will pay the most.  These guys might be Resistance, but they’re also hungry and have families who need supporting.”  He put his drink on the other side of the table.  Some space will stop him from drinking it.

   Sara listened to him, trying not to look at him too much.  She seemed to be trying to wordlessly communicate with her brother, who never looked away.  That was reassuring.  Go off with the woman who shot him in the back as she can’t bring herself to make eye contact.  That’s definitely trustworthy.  She seemed more patient though.  Can a year do that?  

   “I haven’t been looking for you, but now that I’ve stumbled on you, there might be something you can help me with.”  The way that she said it sounded as if she hadn’t stumbled on him at all.  “Please.”  

   “I have a shuttle nearby.  We can talk there, unless your backup is worried I’ll fly away with you.”  He nodded over toward the brother.

   Sara didn’t break eye contact.  “They will be coming along.  There’ll be no losing Scott with you in this state.”

   “I’m not in a state.”  He said defensively.  “Let’s go.”  Reyes quickly stood and made way for the door, swooning forward until he felt Sara’s arm around him.  Yeah, he was drunk.  This is definitely the impression he wanted to be making after so long.  

   Eyes were drawn as they made their exit, but most people probably didn’t see much more than the Pathfinder escorting a drunk out of the bar.  Moments later they were joined by her companions.  

   “What are you doing, Sara?”  The brother asked.  “You said-”  

   He looked as if he was going to say more but both Sara and the angaran, Reyes thought his name might be Jaab or Jaar....something with a J, shot him looks that shut him up quickly.  

   Reyes led the three of them to his shuttle.  His mind wasn’t clear enough to think about what exactly was going on that he was leading these people back to his home, the only thing he still had in the whole galaxy.  These people who worked for some of the people who wanted him dead or worse.  “Get in,” he said, waving them in before closing the airlock behind him.

   Everyone stood in the shuttle, thankfully there was more than enough room for four bodies to stand comfortably.  Hell, they could even sit if they ever moved beyond the awkwardness of being in the same room together.

   “So you were saying something about how you shouldn’t have shot me.  Something about unresolved feelings and wanting to see me,” Reyes started, pushing past Jaar and the brother and sitting in the co-pilot’s seat, swiveling it around to face them.  

   “The first part I definitely said,” Sara admitted, keeping to her feet.  “The rest was apparently brought on by whatever it is you were drinking.  I feel like that part of the conversation could be had at a later date.”   

   Future plans, that was interesting.  “Okay, so down to business?  It should have been fairly easy to overlook me in there.  Even with your SAM.  What do you want, Pathfinder?”  

   The brother fidgeted a lot.  He clearly was not happy with the decisions that led them all here but Reyes doubted he would be offering anymore objections.  If Sara wanted to conduct business, then she was in charge.  Right now she was the Pathfinder, nothing more.  

   Reyes tried to read her face.  It was pointless.  Moments spread over months weren’t enough to get to know her well enough for that.  And she’d changed.  Something changed.

   “How intact are your connections to the Collective now?”  She asked, wasting no time.

   Reyes laughed.  He didn’t think it would be such a loud laugh, but there it was.  

   “What’s so funny?”  The angaran asked.

   “Sloane knows who I am.  Do you think that I stuck with the Collective after I was exposed like that?  After the incident with Zia, I would have thought this was obvious.  Smugglers who worked out of Kadara Port actually worked together to try to bring me down when they just thought I was a smuggler.  My position as head of the Collective was weakened, nothing stopped anyone from organizing my downfall.  I didn’t have thugs in place like Sloane.  My anonymity allowed me to do my job well and kept the Charlatan a figure mysterious enough to inspire some fear.  I took a huge risk exposing myself to you and Sloane and that gambit failed.  She put out a bounty on my head and it was pretty clear that she had the support of Initiative and the Pathfinder.  I wasn’t going up against that.  I’ve been minding my own business since.”  

   “So, that’s a no?”  Scott asked, not bothering to mask the sarcasm.  

   Actually, Reyes had plenty of connections to the Collective still active.  He’d put a new leader in place and trusted her to do what was needed to keep things going while he stayed off the grid.  She checked in once a month, transferred credits, all that jazz.  

   “That’s a no.”  

   Sara frowned, crossing her arms across her chest.  “So you don’t have your connections.  The Collective, impressively, still has something of a foothold in Kadara.  Not what they were, Sloane’s cracked down.  Recruits are easy to find now that she has the right backing, even if she insists she’s not working with Tann.”

   Reyes tried to look interested.  “Alright.  What’s this to do with me?”  

   “She’s become a problem.”

   Reyes laughed, stood, and walked back to the airlock.  “Get out.”  

   Sara looked taken aback.  “Reyes?”  

   “No, Sara. Pathfinder.  Whatever this is, I don’t think I can help you.  If I change my mind, I’ll contact you.  Right now I am drunk.  I’m usually even more easy-going and charming while I’m drunk but this.”  He said, pointing at everyone in one quick twirl of his finger.  “This is an irony I’m going to have to drink in for at least a night, maybe two.”  

   Sara frowned at him, looking both hurt and angry.  He didn’t care right now.

   “I told you.”  Scott said quietly to his sister, ushering her out the door.

   “We’ll be on Voeld for a day or two.  She wouldn’t have come if it wasn’t important.”  The angaran said severely, making no attempt to hide his disdain for Reyes.

   “I’ll keep that in mind.”  He said, closing the airlock behind them and having another good laugh.  

\--------

   Reyes woke up on the floor of his shuttle, leaning against the airlock.  He looked around the cabin, bleary-eyed and extremely hung over.  Whatever it was he drank the night before really hit him after the others had left.  He was sure he’d made enough of a fool of himself before it really kicked in, but the fit of hysterical laughter and finding himself in a half-clothed state really made him wonder.  He crawled over to the nearest object that was bolted to the floor and pulled himself up into a standing position.  He picked up the boot he had apparently thrown across the room that had landed on the sofa and threw it onto the floor, kicking off the one he was wearing and tossing it in the same direction.  He needed to take a shower.

   He couldn’t believe Sara had found him, that posed a lot of unhappy questions.  It could have all been an insane coincidence that they all ended up in the exact same place at the same time in a galaxy of possibilities, it really was bad enough for her to call upon her criminal friend to try to overthrow her criminal ally, or it was a trap.  A poorly baited one, but one all the same.  Reyes showered quickly, nothing wasted water better than a long shower.  He toweled off, pulled on some clean clothing, and dropped onto the sofa bolted to the floor.  Even before leaving Kadara he spent a lot of time on his shuttle, he might as well be comfortable.

   Reyes had to stop himself from chuckling every time he thought of Sara’s proposition.  He didn’t even have to hear all of it.  He knew she needed his help, or at least thought she did, and that it had something to do with reining in Sloane.  He definitely remembered having a solution to that problem a year ago.  

   Reyes smashed a button on his console and was soon greeted by a young human woman’s face.  “I wasn’t expecting your call,” she said.  “We usually speak every three weeks, not two.”  

   “I’m aware, Crux, something’s come up.  I want you to forward me your most recent reports concerning activity on Kadara.  Everything you have.”  

   “I just sent you everything during our last communication… Did you not receive them?”  

   “I usually delete those as soon as I receive them.  I need to actually read them this time.  I’m also going to need you to reach out to Keema, discreetly.  I need to know if she’s still amiable.”

   The face on the screen looked put out at having to compile everything again.  It’s that look of realization people get when they realize they’ve done a lot of work for nothing.  Reyes liked Crux, though.  She’d proved herself time and again when he had her in charge of the base.  After he’d fled, he kept in contact with her, making sure to inform her before word got around of his real identity.  Lesson learned there.  It didn’t hurt that she had worked security on the Nexus, hated Sloane, and was obviously attracted to him.  He liked to think so, anyway.  

   “You should have everything soon.  Keema will take longer, but I’ll reach out.  Need anything else?”  

   Good girl, he thought.  Be additionally helpful without asking for too many details.

   “That’s all.  Thank you, Crux.  Stay in touch.”  

   His console started to chime with each report she sent over.  He frowned at it.  That was a lot of chiming.  

   Reyes toyed with the thought of calling Sara over and getting more details but he didn’t want her to know that he was going to cooperate just yet.  Some part of him, even knowing he was mostly to blame, was still extremely angry at her for the way things had ended between them.  That part of him was the part holding the rest of him back the previous night.  Contact with her was electric.  While she carried herself differently than she had the year before, she smelled the same.  Sandalwood and gardenia. He wondered how much she had brought with her in order to still have a supply of it.  Or where she bought it on the Nexus.  Smells from home were more bittersweet now.  Andromeda had scented flora that was close, but there was nothing like the rich, familiar scents of home.  

   He shook his head and opened the first document to find dozens of pages.  He frowned.  He should have just kept up with the reading as Crux sent over the reports.  It seems old Sloane’s been busy.  Well, he didn’t have anything else to do anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you got this far, thanks!
> 
> Just a note: I do not have a proofreader and I tend to write late at night or the wee hours of the morning so there might be some issues, other than the misspelling of Jaal's name. That is on purpose. If you spot any mistakes, please let me know so I can fix them because they are there, I'm certain of it. And when I put the slow burn tag on there, it is literally multiple chapters before Sara and Reyes are even in a room together on their own so just keep that in mind. 
> 
> On the title: Bunraku is a form of puppetry from Japan. It is literally the first word that popped into my head when I had to come up with a title. I am bad at titles.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some plot progression, from Sara's POV this time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some people read chapter one so thanks to those folk. And nobody hated it enough to comment so bonus, I guess. I have four chapters written but there's been a bit of a stand still, one of my dogs just died yesterday so I haven't exactly been in the mood to write anything. But I'll publish what I have over the next few days and hopefully I can get back to it.

Sara had established multiple outposts, cleared out the immediate kett menace - though there were still plenty of problems to be had with them - found humanity a safe place to call home, assisted the angara with whatever they needed as they seemed to go to her for assistance more than Ambassador Rialla. Pathfinder became problem solver and she didn’t mind it one bit. The other Pathfinders each had their own projects, but they followed her lead and didn’t restrict their work to just their own species.

Prodromos was thriving, the leaders of the scientific community in Heleus were now based there. She didn’t play favorites, but Prodromos was her favorite. The settlement had expanded and absorbed what had once been sites Promise and Resilience, names that they kept to honor those who’d come before. Soon there would be families as more and more people started to feel confident enough to live their lives and reverse the procreation blockers. The idea made Sara nauseous but it was bound to happen sooner or later. More responsibility. 

New Tuchanka, Taerve Uni, Ditaeon, and Port Meridian were all doing well. She’d found prime real estate on a few other planets after a sweep to ensure safety. She’d assisted some of the other Pathfinders too, but nothing had quite been like the challenge establishing the first outposts. More people were coming out of cryo, families were reunited so there were some children running around but the babies had been few. People were actually starting their lives now, it was starting to feel everyday and familiar.

Most of the crew stayed with her on the Tempest. They were her team and she couldn’t do her job without them, but she wasn’t going to make them stay if they wanted to start living their lives. Gil was gone for some time when his friend Jill had their baby a few months ago. A boy named Aaron. Sara was almost afraid they would stick with a theme and name the boy Will, but they chose to name him after Jill’s father. Everyone else stayed, though Drack occasionally left to check on Kesh and the little ones. Scott joined up too, once he had recovered from the damage done by the Archon.

Everything was going well and for the first time since arriving in Heleus, things were looking up for the Initiative. Everything except Kadara Port. Kadara was the first port run by people from the Milky Way in Heleus. Yes, it was taken from the angarans, but they managed to keep it going and now it was thriving. Trade existed between Kadara Port and most of the rest of Heleus. Tann felt it was essential to have the port under some kind of Initiative influence and Sara had to agree it made sense. One of her biggest mistakes was propping up Sloane Kelly. 

Sara had hoped that since Sloane assisted in the fight for Meridian, she was showing some warming up to the idea that it would be mutually beneficial for the Initiative and the exiles to work together. Instead Sloane increased her extortion request, pulled security from around Ditaeon, and had begun to hinder trade to the Initiative and its outposts. Each time Sara had been called in to talk her down and each time it was getting harder and harder to do without it escalating into violence. Sloane was destabilizing planetary economies across the cluster when she prevented goods from getting where they needed to be. Ditaeon was struggling due to Sloane’s increased demands and pirate raids. There was only so much security to be had from the Initiative. The outpost had been set up with the idea it could rely on Kadara Port for any supplemental security and Sloane's demands were becoming unreasonable. There wasn’t a day Sara didn’t blame herself for this or for what she did to Reyes. 

“Sara?” Scott asked as they retreated to the Nomad. “What were you expecting from this?” 

Scott, unfortunately, knew of her time with Reyes thanks to Vetra and Peebee’s gossiping. If there is anything Scott loves more than gossip, other than food, Sara’s never seen it. Especially gossip about her. He’d disapproved of his plan from the start. There were plenty of other ways to deal with Sloane but if Reyes was willing and able, she knew he could step right in, disturbance to the markets would be minimal, and trade would even out. Everyone would get what they needed. 

“I don’t know what I expected. For him to be angry, of course. I did shoot him.” 

“Yeah, that was a nice touch.” 

“So you keep saying. I was angry, adrenaline was pumping, and he was being a smartass even though he’d lost. So I shot him.”

“And now you’re giving him exactly what he wanted then. The throne of Kadara Port, power, money, and easy access to you.” 

Sara rolled her eyes. “So I’ll give him what he wants. I know he’ll give me want I want and that’s more important. We have to keep what we have in Heleus stable and having Sloane Kelly threaten Ditaeon and other Initiative outposts by threatening to cut supplies if she doesn’t get a deeper cut, it’s unsustainable. You know this, Scott.” 

“We could always put the angara back in charge of Kadara Port. It is our port, afterall.” Jaal suggested. 

“Jaal, do you know who we could put in charge that wouldn’t completely disrupt the way everything has been working? If there is an angara that you trust to keep everyone’s interests we will go and put them on that throne right now. But the Roekaar are everywhere, everything we’ve worked for up til now would be destroyed if Kadara Port fell into their hands.”

“So instead you are choosing another criminal because… He has nice hair and he smells nice?” Scott asked, climbing into the Nomad into the driver’s seat. 

“Give me some credit, Scott.” Sara snapped at him. “I’ve already told you, he can slip in, disrupting nothing. He’s been up for supporting better relations between the Initiative and the exiles from the start, he's a friend to the angara, he doesn’t want to extort Ditaeon into failure, and at least his disdain for me is more justified than Sloane’s. I have been open to suggestions from the start, I think this is the best plan. We’ll just have to work him over until he agrees.” 

The look that passed between Jaal and Scott, both sitting in the front seats, did not escape her notice. “Just drive, already.” 

“How did you even find him?” Scott asked the question that had been in everyone’s mind. Probably even Reyes’. 

“Process of elimination and a little help from SAM,” she said, being as vague as possible. “He’d want to avoid the Outcasts, who already had a foothold in Elaaden before that idiotic showdown and he couldn’t stay on Kadara. He’s a pilot, so naturally he’d go back to smuggling and I had no doubt that he had some stolen identities for fall back.”

“It was just a matter of monitoring communications. It was most likely that Mr. Vidal would return to his work with the Resistance, even if it did make him conspicuous. He avoided popular pirate hideouts and Initiative agents,” the digitized voice announced through their omnitools. “The Pathfinder also had his named flagged for any alerts.” 

“It helped, didn’t it?” She asked, feeling foolish for explaining herself but she knew the face Scott was making even if she could only see the back of his head. She took it on a matter of faith that Jaal was doing the same thing.

“It did, Pathfinder.” SAM said helpfully.

Sara kept quiet and watched the scenery go by. Voeld was still freezing cold all the time, but progress was happening. Just activating the vault on this planet had increased the temperature 13 degrees and it was steadily increasing daily, just not as quickly. She foresaw infrastructure issues once the ice melted and the oceans were liquid again. That wouldn’t be her problem, though. That was decades off. She sighed and threw herself back against the seat and watched for the Tempest to rise into view. 

She had to admit she didn’t mind letting Scott drive sometimes, he only ever did it when she had things on her mind. Something about her cascading down a mountain backwards and running head on into a boulder during the first few trips he’d taken with her that made him determined to force her to relinquish some of the driving duties. 

Finally the Nomad pulled into the Tempest’s hold and Sara climbed out of the back after Scott and Jaal had existed. 

“No luck?” Vetra asked, poking her head out of her room. 

“None. We’ll keep trying, though.” Sara said, 

“What happened?” She asked, interested.

Jaal proceeded to fill her in as Scott and Sara made their way toward the armory, dropped off their weapons and armor. Sara could see Gil headed her way, likely with new baby pictures - something they typically delighted in - but Scott pushed her along. She made a mental note to come back to Gil later. 

“That was rude,” she said, waving to Lexi as they passed the med-bay.

“I saw those picture this morning. You can go do that on your own time. We need to talk.” Scott took her hand and pulled her into the Pathfinder’s quarters.

Sara knew he was serious if he was holding her hand. Normally he’d just grab her arm and drag her where he wanted her to be. 

“I know this is hard for you. I know how much regret you have tied up in this man, Sara, but you shouldn’t get too invested in him again.” 

“I was barely invested before.” Sara said, kicking her boots off. “We were a thing for a few months, we saw each other a total of maybe 7 or 8 times, and then he revealed he was a crime boss and I shot him instead of acting like a person, and now I’m having to crawl back to him asking for help.” 

Scott set his jaw. “No, you aren’t. We can just do what Jaal suggested, we can risk a disruption to the markets and position someone reliable into power, Sara. This feels like you think you owe him this.” 

She very much felt like she owed him this. 

“That’s not what this is, Scott. You weren’t here, you didn’t work with him before. If I had been able to control myself and I’d processed the whole Charlatan thing like an adult instead of shooting first and asking questions later, we’d have a stable economy on Kadara, I wouldn’t be fielding angry emails from Christmas Tate on a daily basis about Ditaeon security, and we wouldn’t be so close to disaster on Kadara. Again. He wanted to work with us. He’s a liar and a murderer but still, this is on me to fix.”

Scott just shook his head. “You could’ve asked Sarissa to deal with this.”

“I just told you Scott. I’m not some love sick little girl who misses her handsome older boyfriend who happened to be a great kisser. I made the wrong choice and I’ll fix it.” 

She pushed him out of her room and stripped off her under armor and into her cozy sweats. Sara loved her brother, but she was getting tired of his second guessing her. Admittedly it wasn’t something he’d done so much before now, but she was tired of it already.

“Any email, SAM?” Sara asked, not feeling up to walking over to the console to check.

“None, Pathfinder.” 

She sighed and stretched out on her bed. 

“Hey, SAM? How difficult would it be to narrow down angaran candidates to take over Kadara? I assume the most recent information we have on Roekaar ranks is out of date by now?” 

“Very much so, Pathfinder. You would perhaps be better off discussing that with the Moshae or Evfra. Without up-to-date information, to at least cross check there is the risk of placing the wrong person in charge.” 

“That’s what I figured.”

“Have you considered, Sara, that perhaps Mr. Vidal isn’t the best option either?”

“I have, SAM. I discussed it with Kandros and Tann - seeing as he’s an accountant and knows the market better than I do. Reyes wanted Initiative cooperation, he wanted the outpost. He wanted back in, I think. He just lied to me about how he was planning on doing that and, well. You know what happened.” 

“You shot him.” SAM said, as if she needed reminding.

“Yeah, SAM. I shot him because when I needed to make an important decision and back the leader of Kadara Port, instead of doing what would have been better for everyone, I took it personally, shot Reyes, and propped up a psychopath.” 

Sara stared at her ceiling for a very long time, SAM leaving her in silence. She felt like an idiot. Since inheriting the role of Pathfinder from her father, she felt she had been stumbling in the dark. She had no training for the role and as the only Pathfinder at the time, everyone was relying on her. She flitted across the cluster solving problems, making allies, friends, and plenty of enemies. Kadara was her biggest mistake.

And it wasn’t just the economy. She didn’t know much about that, she only knew it was important that it didn’t collapse in on itself. Kadara Port needed to stay open and unheeded. Initiative citizens needed to be safe. Sloane was doing the opposite. Sara had agreed to Sloane’s terms because she needed the outpost and she was hoping that once the colonists and the exiles started mingling again, perhaps she’d ease up and realize that all of these people weren’t responsible for the problems on the Nexus before they were even thawed out. No such luck, it just got worse. There was a rash of pirate attacks on Ditaeon, even though Sloane’s people were supposedly running guard duty in the first few months. People went missing, crime at the port was ridiculous, even with the Outcasts’ ban on weapons, the angara were treated poorly which was starting diplomatic issues with Aya. Sara was the one to field all of these emails. 

Christmas Tate yelled at her frequently, both over the vidcom and in emails. The Moshae and Evfra both did the same. Sara forwarded the messages to both Addison and Rialla. Because of her experience with the situation, it was apparently her job to fix this. Nobody ever came out and said it, but it had been her decision to deal with Sloane in this manner instead of the manner everyone else seemed to prefer. Including Reyes.

Sara made a face and rolled out of bed.

“SAM, could you check with everyone. See if anybody needs anything before I go to bed.” 

SAM didn’t respond right away. Sara had been trying to work with him on being more conversational and saying “Yes Pathfinder” to every request wasn’t working for her. She also tried to get him to stop telling her every single time she moved in and out of extreme weather or explaining the mining probe to her every single time she used it but apparently those are hard habits for him to break.

“Cora, Vetra, and Peebee are all requesting to know how things went with Mr Vidal.” SAM eventually replied.

Sara rolled her eyes. She’d tell them eventually, but she wasn’t up to it tonight. “Of course they are,” she said.

“Everybody else said that their requests can wait until morning. Scott requested that I tell you to shut up to go to sleep.” 

“That sounds like a good idea. Goodnight SAM.” 

“Goodnight, Sara.” 

She flipped the lights off, leaving a dim lamp next to her bed. She felt a shiver go up her back as she climbed into bed. After this long she could tell when SAM turned his full attention back to SAM node. He was always present with her and was always listening to some degree. As his host, he had an invested interest in doing so, but it was like someone walking out of a room when he let her sleep and turned instead to Meridian. He always had news for her in the morning, but she felt alone this particular night.

Sara took great strides never to feel sorry for herself. That was something she was barely able to get away with when she was a child. If it wasn’t her father, it was Scott telling her to get up and do better but her father was gone, her mother was asleep and might never wake up, and Scott was frustrated with her to say the least. Seeing Reyes again was more than she expected, she didn’t realize how much she’d missed him until she was in the same room with them. Until their eyes met. Until her arm guided him out of the bar. 

She knew full well what sort of man Reyes was. He was a murderer, a liar, no doubt a thief, a smuggler, but she rationalized that he was doing it to survive. He had told her that he had no part in the uprising, just a lack of confidence in leadership. That story was hardly unique. Some people could make it on their own, others sneaked into outposts trying to blend back in. Reyes became a crime boss, apparently. She hadn’t really been able to discuss that with him.

She had tried to research him when they had first met but so many files were damaged and corrupted in the uprising. She knew his name and that he could fly a shuttle. Not extremely helpful. He was handsome, he was flirty, and she knew he was a criminal. She was no saint herself. She’d killed people without a second thought. Of course, those people were usually shooting at her. She wasn't going to begrudge him what it took to survive, except ultimately she did. Sara was just going to have to accept that she had a mess to clean up. For the people of Heleus and her own personal life.

Every time she closed her eyes she saw his face when he first recognized her in the bar. There was a fleeting moment of relief and happiness, or maybe she just imagined it. There were priorities here. Sloane had to be dealt with, first and foremost. Finding out if Reyes’ feelings with legitimate back before she shot him was another thing entirely. He was secretive and evasive and he’d used her to weaken Sloane’s position in the first place. He’d lied to her about who he really was. Sara rolled onto her stomach, punched her pillow into a comfortable submission, and squeezed her eyes shut. Reyes’ handsome face laughed at her. It was going to be a long night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much plot progression. The first few chapters are really just trying to establish where everybody is, headspace-wise. The chapters will be from Reyes and Sara's POVs alternatively. Thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyes makes a decision and takes a ride with Scott and Drack.

Reyes had read over everything Crux had sent him and had made sure to highlight the things he wanted more information on. He couldn’t believe the Initiative put up with Sloane for this long but he supposed for awhile there they didn’t have any other option since he’d been run off planet. He shook his head. So much trouble would have been prevented if he had told Sara sooner and maybe even if she hadn’t shot him when she found out. 

He sighed and tossed the datapad into the co-pilot’s seat. If he went along with Sara’s plan, whatever it actually was, he’d have her get him more information on anything the Collective might be a little hazy on. Keema was useless, she had been Reyes’ contact and after he’d left there hadn’t been a word exchanged between them. Contacting her now was a huge risk but he had Crux try all the same. It was a shame things blew up in his face, it would have been good for her to be her people’s representative on Kadara. A start to some bridge building. Now if they did go through with this, he’d have to rule, putting a giant target on his back and guaranteeing his smuggling days were through.

He was trying to think of ways to go back to his original plan of ruling from the shadows but nothing sprang to mind. He could take a chance to see if Keema was still amenable. If he was convincing enough, she might be. She was never happy with Sloane’s treatment of the angara and from what he read that certainly hadn’t improved. He’d test the waters and see what it got him.

Reyes hit his console and waited for the face of his current proxy to appear on screen. “Crux. I need you to do something for me.” 

“Not more reports?” She asked, visibly cringing. She’d sifted through a lot of reports to get him the information he wanted on Kadara. He wasn’t surprised she didn’t want to repeat that again so soon.

He gave her one of his best charming smiles. “No, I have all the reports I can read right now. Anything from Keema?”

“Not yet. There are still dozens of ways to reach her, though we’re not even certain she’s still in Sloane’s employ. She hasn't been as visible as she had once been.” 

“Be careful about it. If she is still in a position to be of assistance, it’d be pointless if we put her on the wrong side of Sloane.”

Crux was making mental notes of everything he was saying. Maybe this was a sign that if things went into play like they definitely seemed like that were being set up to do, she’d get a promotion and not just be a glorified secretary who got to shoot people sometimes. Something more like she used to do.

“I’ll make sure it pings through multiple locations, same as always. Need anything else?”

Reyes leaned back in his chair, mumbling quietly as he double-checked everything in his head. 

“No, that should be all. I’ll contact you when I need your help again. If you don’t hear from me, resume communications as usual.” 

Crux nodded. “Be safe, sir.” 

“Thanks, Crux.” He said, punching the console again to close the line.

Now he needed to discuss things with Sara. Alone. Her brother didn’t like him and he was convinced that there’d be no charming that one. In fact, all of Sara’s crew seemed strangely immune to his charm save Sara herself. They were probably just keeping it professional since he had been with Sara, such as it was.

He and Sara had much to talk about, not simply this upcoming plan, and he was determined to get it all out in the open. He missed her, he’d screwed up, she’d screwed up, and now they were not only getting a chance to possibly patch things up, it might just lead to what he wanted in the first place.

Reyes could just send her an email. Easy enough, but he’d rather they speak face-to-face. He still had the address to contact her through her ship’s vid-con so he rang her. It usually took forever for her to get back to him, so he turned from mounds of data about Sloane Kelly and her thugs and decided to make himself some food. Unfortunately all he had was some of that angaran food paste. What he would’ve give for good, old fashioned peanut butter and jam. Classic.

He was cringing as he was about to put some of the unappetizing gray paste into his mouth when the vid-con beeped at him. That was the fastest she’d ever replying to one of his messages. 

He hit the button to accept the connection and waited for her face to appear. The holograms generated by these things never did a very good job, but it was obvious she hadn’t expected to hear from him or apparently do much of anything. She had her hair in the same ponytail as ever and she wore a horrible Blasto tank top over a sports bra. She even had headphones. 

“Did I interrupt?” He asked, hoping he sounded disapproving her of attire. Blasto, really?

“Same as always,” she said, sounding out of breathe. She must’ve been called right away when his message came through. “Are you going to help?” 

“Wasting no time, I see. We need to talk before anything is agreed upon. There’s a lot of information I need filled in on and you and I need to talk.”

Sara nodded in agreement. “Of course. When can you get here?”

Reyes thought for a moment that he had heard incorrectly.

“I’m sorry, going there? On your ship?”

“Sara, are you insane?” Reyes couldn’t see him, but apparently the brother was there. 

He could see her gesturing for him to be quiet. It was pretty obvious that someone would be listening in on their conversation. If he had cared about that, he would have sent her the email. 

“Yes, my ship. It’s the safest place, we can’t accommodate your shuttle or anything since the Nomad’s in the hold, but something can be arranged.”

Reyes had been dying to go aboard The Tempest from the first time he saw her docked at Kadara Port. Sara had promised to bring him on board but it never happened. Something about the crew not being thrilled with a smuggler on board. Or rather, another smuggler on board. Crime boss is okay, though. Attempted murderer, maybe actual murderer, bring him right on board.

“I don’t know about this, Sara. Working with the Initiative is one thing, this is placing myself right into the palm of their hand.”

“You don’t trust me?” She asked, he could tell she a little offended by that the way her voice pitched up.

“You shot me, Sara.”

“Yes, well, that happened. But you either come on board or we find an alternative and something tells me if you are calling me already, you’ve found a way to make this all turn to your benefit, aside from what we’re already offering.” 

“A man has to make a living.”

“Be ready by 1900 or we’re done.”

“I love it when you threaten,” he said with a wink, disconnecting the comm.

Damn. He’d forgotten to get the location.

Moments later his omnitool blinked at him and he answered it. 

“Forget something, Reyes?” Sara’s voice asked.

He cleared his throat. “Location?” 

“The Southern Monolith. There are some caves, we’ll have cover. I’ll come get you in the Nomad and bring you back to The Tempest and we can get this thing going. Pack light.” 

He wasn’t thrilled with this, he was glad she couldn’t see his face anymore. At least nobody hung around the Monoliths now that everything was active. If they wanted to study Remnant, they went to Meridian or if they were feeling truly adventurous, that abandoned city. 

“I’ll meet you there.” 

“Great. Thanks, Reyes.”

She disconnected the call that time. 

Reyes glanced around his shuttle. He always packed light. Shoving some clothes and other essentials into a rucksack, which he tossed into the co-pilot’s seat, he decided he might as well make his way to the monolith. If there are caves, he could hide his shuttle away and play with some Remnant for a few hours while he waited but when he finally got there he found only a lone eiroch and decided it would be safer to wait for Ryder in the shuttle and review his information one more time. He was distracted by the humming emanating from throughout the caves.

During his time in Heleus, now well over two years, he hadn’t given the Remnant much thought. Sure there were odd bits of tech sticking up out of the ground but how was that terribly different from the prothean shit back home? He kept his distance unless it was necessary to confront them and with his ass planted safely at Tartarus that wasn’t often. Since leaving Kadara, however, he found them a little less avoidable and he decided he didn’t like them very much. Particularly the ones that liked to bite.

His musings on angry remnant bots were interrupted by three loud knocks on the door to his shuttle. Rising to his feet, he hit the hatch release. 

“You came early?” He asked as the door opened coming face to face with a Ryder, just not the one he was expecting. “Oh.”

Scott looked like he’d rather be anywhere else than where he was at that moment, that much amused Reyes at least. Scott was younger than him, kitted out with the best the Initiative had to offer, and was probably under the impression that Reyes had taken advantage of his sister. It was weird to see Sara’s eyes peering out of Scott’s face, otherwise they looked nothing alike. They shared skin tone, eye color, and hair color. Scott was much taller, had narrower eyes, and judging by the way his sidearm was holstered, was left handed. He was as handsome as Sara was pretty.

“No, we didn’t. Let’s move it, Vidal.” Scott stepped aside to get Reyes moving. Sara hadn’t come at all, just the scowling brother and the krogan.

Reyes closed things up, making sure his shuttle would remain until he could return for it. An indeterminate time on the Tempest with ten other people who likely shared Scott’s opinions and demeanor where he was concerned was going to be fun. Hopefully he could at least start to mend things with Sara. 

He’d be lying if he let himself believe that he wasn’t disappointed that Sara was a no show, but he did wonder how much of that decision involved her brother and the crew simply keeping her from an unsupervised conversation. She had tracked him down on Voeld with her brother and the angaran, she had returned his vid-con message with at least her brother looking over her shoulder, and now here he was again. From what Sara had told him, she was the older sibling and she was also the Pathfinder. Apparently that didn’t matter much right now.

“Go ahead and drive, Drack.” Scott said to the krogan.

“Finally. Your sister never lets anyone else drive this thing.” The krogan clambered into the vehicle and waited until Reyes was in the back and Scott was belted in before speeding across the frozen oceans of Voeld. 

“I know, she’s like that.” 

Reyes flew out of his seat, smacking his face on one of the many unnecessary angles on the interior of the Nomad, as the krogan took a sharp turn to avoid hitting what he thought might have been an adhi. The speed this thing could reach on ice and snow was impressive.

“You might want to take advantage of the safety harnesses. I don’t need you bleeding all over the interior and I don’t think Drack wants to slow down.” Scott said, pointing to the harness that had been tucked inside the seat. 

“Right, thanks.” Reyes said, picking himself up off the floor of the vehicle and hastily fastening the restraining harness. He gingerly touched his fingers to his nose. Yeah, there was blood. He took a sharp breath when he actually touched his nose. And it was broken. This was a great sign.

“We’ll have Lexi take a look at that when we get back to the ship.” Drack said, eyeing Reyes in the rear view mirror. “We wouldn’t want to hurt that squishy face of yours.”

Reyes chuckled. “That is the first time anyone has ever described my face as squishy.”

“It probably won’t be the last.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still working on the next chapter. Started a new job so adjusting to being awake in the morning instead of all night has made my schedule a bit crazy. Thanks for the kudos. Again, nobody has hated it enough to tell me so that's a plus. I swear Reyes and Sara will be alone in a room together soon.


End file.
